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A. Mto 2 P. M.) you expected, there will not be any op
portunity for making up the profit at any other time
during the day; for, as a rule, there is no morning
or evening trade. Additionally, you lose all the holi
days and Sundays, for business-meh are not down-town
on such days, and, therefore, you can only count upon
about 303 working days, out of 365 days in the year.
The great drawback is, that you have to pay rent for
the entire 365 days, pay wages to your help for the
entire time, and that your running expenses are nearly
as great as if you kept open every day in the year.
There are some few exceptions to this rule, of course,
but such places are going out of the market, for the
reason that the larger places will control the trade.
On the other hand, if a place is.started where there
are long hours, from 5 a. m. till an hour past midnight
(New York law), the chances are much more in the
beginner's favor; for, supposing he should have a slack
trade in the morning or about noon, he may still have
a good afternoon or night trade, or both, while his
expenses are much less,, proportionately, than the
down-town places. This is what every one must non-
sider well, before he starts in business. For instance:
—Supposing a man finds a small place, where the ex
penses are $25 a day, and he is assured that he can
take in $50 behind the bar. He may think this is a
good business, but a little investigation will prove,
that it is not. The price to himof the liquor consumed
will be about $20. This, added to his running ex
penses, makes a total of $45, and leaves him just a net
profit of $5 for the day; that is, $130 a month, and
$1,560 a year. But he must pay for his living, and
if a family is growing up around him, the $1,560 will
only pay ordinary expenses, and give him a fair living.
At the end of five or ten years, hewillsimply have lived
well, probably not have saved any amount of money,
and, as he has grown older, will possibly be less able to